Joel has a very good season so far.
Own goals happen to the best.
He had nothing to do with the first Brighton goal and Konate was a bit involved in their second.
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Definetely not playing like champions but the last two games we proved that we are in a title race and they squashed my fear of our away problem.
The next two league games we have the chance to make ourselves top favorites for it.
We’re in the title race, but it doesn’t feel like we are.
Other than the Villa, Forest and Brentford games, everything has been a struggle.
When we won it last time and even when we finished 2nd under Klopp, Rodgers and Rafa, it felt different.
So while we absolutely can win this thing, to me at least, it doesn’t yet feel like a reality.
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Decent summary. The performance level isn’t currently of champions, but the mentality is coming back. We dug deep today to get the three points and go top, which is a great sign, even if it is temporary.
Not quite sure what to make of it, as we don’t quite look solid enough to me, and we are fluffing a few lines up front. Still, look at that table. It is nice viewing!
Hopefully we beat Man Utd well and then get a win against Arsenal to stay top. Do that and it is starting to look good.
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We’re in a title race because none of the other sides are that good either. We’re not great, yet.
Feels a bit like last season in that we’re not quite getting enough out of the players available, albeit we have much better options available to us now (midfield). Almost every game we have to change formation after 60 minutes because it isn’t quite working.
If we can stick around the top of the table and get it to click, we can win it. If we carry on like this, it probably won’t be enough.
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I’d throw in West Ham also Wolves that much once we actually stepped up.
End of the day 37 from 48 with Newcastle, Spurs and Man City away is a pretty good total.
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We could use our rivals dropping a few more points because that’s what it will take for us to stick around the first spot with the football we’re playing. I actually couldn’t tell you what kind of football we’re playing lately if I’m honest.
Our second best centre back has suffered a potential career-ending injury, our best left back has been injured for months, our only recognised right back isn’t a right back anymore, we don’t have a natural holding midfielder of any variety, our young central midfielders are in and out of the team with various niggles, and our record signing of a striker couldn’t hit a barn door with a guided missile. Oh, and one of our starting XI players had his father kidnapped!
Bearing all this in mind, I’m extremely happy with the position we find ourselves in but it won’t be sustainable, especially with the imminent fixture list. I’m also afraid that Arsenal have found their Van Dijk in Rice and that Man City have used all of their bad luck to drop points without Rodri.
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We’ll see where we are by matchday 25-28.
If we can really attack the final part.
Results are all that matter, a great side find ways to win…we’re doing that. Utd did it time and time again for the best part of a decade, so I’d happily take playing like crap for 2/3s of games and moaning for 2/3s of games and coming away with the win than playing great, singing the teams praise only to be sucker punched with a late equaliser or loss (ala Spurs).
But it would be nice once in a while to just put a side to the sword as well, like the good old days.
No reason why we can’t do what we did a few years ago only this time except the league and FA cup, it’s the Prem and EL.
Don’t know where to ask this, I’m pretty sure we are, but are we really the club with most wins in the final minute(s)? Not only this season, but in history (expecting one of those since '92 stats).
We’re winning this fucker.
Believe.
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Are you referring to this stat?
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Not sure it’s actually the best stat to have though. I’d rather have the game won comfortably by the 90th minute.
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Yes, thank you.
Would be nice to see overall, not just since 1992.
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I’ve revised my expectations from a top four finish. If these bastards are going to put me through this every game, there bloody better be a league title at the end of it.
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Generally speaking I always feel like the winter is a bit of slog performance-wise. You get a few nice feel games in the early season (Villa 3-0), winter is just about getting results and then it starts warming up and the team gets into its groove.
Someone above said that it felt different when we finished 2nd under Benitez but this is not remembering how that season went. We were not particularly good for 2/3rds of the season, then we lost 2-0 away at Middlesbrough which was seen as the death of our season. Then we went on an absolute tear and started battering teams - Madrid, Villa, Man Utd got spanked 4-0, 5-0 and 4-1 in a week.
But we weren’t firing on all cylinders the entire season. Our current team is way better than that Benitez team because this team still gets the results, Benitez’s side didn’t have the firepower to do that.
Rodgers season felt like a complete fluke.
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I always felt that the glut of December games were all win-able and hopefully we will!
The problem is January and February - they always feel like our difficult months.
Agree especially january with potentially the two legged League Cup semi final and potentially two FA Cup rounds.
Can’t believe we have only 5 games left this year.
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dead rubber in the EL
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League Cup against WHU which I expect us to win (home advantage and short Sunday/Wednesday turnaround for both teams should favor us)
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league matches at home against ManU and Arsenal + away against Burnley
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